Great Creations Organization - Essay Example

Great Creations Organization Introduction Dealing with the number of development crises will ultimately require the organization to face up to the challenges of democratization. There is a call to make reforms so as to leave the official donors with little to address. The sector has undergone extraordinary heights of change the past fifteen years with growth, diversification and even maturity (Nelson & Dorsey, 2008). These have made the sector to have more complex requirements and less homogeneous characteristics. There has been a great emergency and consolidation of more large national providers, contraction of funding smaller organizations to favor these large co-operations and greater accountability and competition. These have made the membership for small NGOs to be under high levels of stress (Brinkerhoff et al., 2007). Great Creations Organization has faced these challenges and somewhat daunting scenario making our discussion and that of other small NGOs to be about a matter of survival. These however should not be taken as a challenge but as an opportunity to develop better strategic processes in order to surmount them. Discussion Being a local NGO, Great Creations Organization, need to ask themselves of their identity and their potential (Michael, 2004). Great Creations Organization (GCO) is mostly in the smaller towns and the countryside. They are concerned in the building and improving the lives of various groups especially the drug addicts, alcoholics and the homeless. Being a group of dedicated and good hearted people, GCO face some of the common problems that each and every one of the smaller NGOs face. Management of funds has been a big problem at GCO leading to them not functioning well and therefore making the reputation to suffer. This leads to lack of funding which is a great barrier to pursuing the set plans. There is, consequently, a great necessity of new reforms and strategies to recognize prevent and fix the problems. The main thrust of GCO’s work has been to ascertain that all of the affected families in the whole communities and societies they represent has an earning member after three years. They deal with vulnerable and giving such hope means a lot. This means GCO should grow and take the services global since there are people all over the world affected by these problems. The strategies that could be used to grow and thrive include; A) Adapting to changing needs As a small NGO, GCO have a capacity to move extremely quickly as circumstances changes. Decisions do not need to go through vetting processes and large bureaucracies but could be made right at such an executive meeting. GCO could therefore keep abreast of changing needs and adapt the programs as needed which only call for more meetings (Aras & Crowther, 2010). B) An involved and active membership There is a tendency of smaller NGOs like GCO fearing to be swallowed because government funders find it easier to deal with fewer service providers. But GCO is well established and therefore an involved membership including the interested shareholders should be used. These will include volunteers and community development approaches. C) Collaborate strategically There are other smaller NGOs dealing with the same provisions as GCO and therefore collaborating with them in learning, opening of social media networks to get to the affected areas and develop a partnered IT strategy (Winsemius & Guntram, 2002). D) Specialization Unlike larger organizations, GCO cannot provide multifaceted services effectively and therefore should only specialize on what it does well and perfect it. E) Maintaining good relationships with funding bodies The relevant government departments and the other funders have continually issued complaints to GCO about this or that. It is critical that these key contacts are maintained which would include courtesy calls (Fitzduff & Church, 2004). F) Educational Institutions So as to be up to date with the current trends in the field and have coherence in policy, theory and practice, GCO needs to get engaged with the local schools and campuses. Not only will they help in researches but most of them will be saved from these effects since that’s where it all starts (Kilby, 2010). G) Effective management and governance Though it is difficult for small NGOs to keep abreast of all requirements, GCO should not use this as an excuse not to have good governance. Effective management starts way at the top and if it goes down the rank with the effectiveness, the groundwork will also be perfect. The resources and information should be provided to all members in order to have an understanding of the tasks and processes at hand. With these kinds of improvements and more that could come along the way, GCO will rise to heights of the renowned international NGOs (Buckingham & Nilakant, 2012). Great Creations Organization References Aras, G., & Crowther, D. (2010). NGOs and social responsibility. Bingley: Emerald. Brinkerhoff, J. M., Smith, S. C., & Teegen, H. (2007). NGOs and the Millennium Development Goals: Citizen Action to reduce poverty. New York, N.Y: Palgrave Macmillan. Buckingham, J., & Nilakant, V. (2012). Managing responsibly: Alternative approaches to corporate management and governance. Farnham, Surrey, England: Gower. Fitzduff, M., & Church, C. (2004). NGOs at the table: Strategies for influencing policies in areas of conflict. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield. Kilby, Patrick. (2010). NGOs in India: The challenges of women's empowerment and accountability. Taylor & Francis. Michael, S. (2004). Undermining development: The absence of power among local NGOs in Africa. Oxford: James Currey. Nelson, P. J., & Dorsey, E. (2008). New rights advocacy: Changing strategies of development and human rights NGOs. Washington, D.C: Georgetown University Press. Winsemius, P., & Guntram, U. (2002). A thousand shades of green: Sustainable strategies for competitive advantage. London: Earthscan Publications. Appendix A Hypothetical Organization Parameters Industry Non-Governmental Organization Organization Type Non-profit making Organization Size/Reach Local NGO Other Parameters Rehabilitates Drug addicts, alcoholics and the homeless. Appendix B Activities, Benefits, and Value Strategy Planning Activity Title (Associated with Module 1) Description: Adapting to changing needs. Benefits and Value: Improves the quality of decision making. Strategy Planning Activity Title (Associated with Modules 2 & 3) Description: Collaborating strategically. Benefits and Value: Improves performance. Strategy Planning Activity Title (Associated with Modules 4 & 5) Description: Involved and active membership. Benefits and Value: Motivates and mobilizes. Strategy Planning Activity Title (Associated with Module 6) Description: Specialization Benefits and Value: Sets high aspirations. Strategy Planning Activity Title (Associated with Modules 7 & 8) Description: Good relationship with funding bodies. Benefits and Value: Creates consistency in performace. Strategy Planning Activity Title (Associated with Modules 9 & 10) Description: Educational institutions. Benefits and Value: Improves quality of performance. Strategy Planning Activity Title (Associated with Modules 11 & 12) Description: Effective management and governance. Benefits and Value: Guarantees goals of the organization. Read More